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Friday

Houston Criminal Attorney Jim Sullivan Fights the Government to Keep His Clients Free

Houston Criminal Defense Attorney Jim Sullivan fights the government every day to keep his clients out of
prison. On every case, his first goal is to work for a dismissal,
either by the Grand Jury or by the prosecutor. Because the government does not like to dismiss
cases, it often requires defense attorneys to force their hand by
setting the case for a jury trial. Unlike many of his colleagues who
set cases for trial just to get a better plea deal, Jim Sullivan sets
cases for trial because he intends to try the case.

When defendants do get sentenced to
prison time, they are now doing less and less time. According to a
recent Houston Chronicle article, parole officials lately
have come to the common sense realization that it is a waste of money to
lock up low level non-violent offenders and to keep the dangerous
criminals in prison longer. As a result, over the past 10 years, six
percent more offenders who apply for parole are granted it. At the same
time, the number of parolees who were sent back to prison after their
parole was revoked has fallen dramatically–44%.

State cheers rise in paroles

Officials say reforms are ‘smart on crime’ while saving money

By Cindy Horswell

Texas continues a steady march
away from its Old West image of being tough on crime to one that state
leaders now call “smart on crime” and even fiscally “right on crime.”
Nothing makes that more apparent than the Texas Board of Pardons and
Parole’s newly released bragging rights: More prisoners were paroled
this past fiscal year than any other year in the past decade, and fewer
parolees are being sent back.

The board’s report this week boasts
24,342 offenders were approved for parole from Sept. 1, 2010, to Aug.
31, 2011. This represents 31 percent of all who applied and an approval
rate that is six percentage points higher than 10 years ago. At the
same time, the number carted back to prison this past fiscal year after
their parole was revoked plummeted by 44 percent from a high of 11,374
in 2004.

Instead of fearing accusations of appearing too lenient,
state authorities are smiling. “We are pleased with our continuing
increase in granting parole,” said Rissie Owens, chairwoman of the
state’s pardons and parole board.
“The use of our parole guidelines to assess the likelihood of a
successful parole outcome has been cited as a national model for its
positive impact on returning more offenders to productive lives.” The
Association of Paroling Authorities International has praised Texas’
system which many other states are copying, said board spokesman Harry
Battson...

A
smarter approach

State Sen. John Whit-mire, D-Houston, is the
architect of many of the prison reforms in Texas. Whitmire said the
state has always been the toughest in the nation on punishment, but now
it’s being smarter. “We lock up the dangerous violent offenders for
longer periods while trying to change the lifestyles of the low-level
offenders,” he said.

Rather than build three new prisons in 2007,
funds were shifted to treatment programs for drug and alcohol
addictions, anger management, counseling and education. “We’ve saved
the taxpayer at least $2 billion that way. The treatment programs only
cost us $180 million, and we still have room for the really bad guys,”
said Texas Rep. Jerry Madden, R-Richardson, the correction committee
chairman. He noted every person incarcerated costs the state about $50
per day.

Besides gutting the building program, a 1,000-bed prison in
Sugar Land was also closed last year. This is possible as the number of
actual inmates housed by the state dropped by 2,500 last year to
154,000, the lowest number in five years, records show...

The parole department’s report showed the highest release rate occurred
in one of the worst crime categories: violent aggravated sexual
assaults. Nearly 42 percent of those candidates considered for parole
were released in the last fiscal year.

However, Battson, the parole
department spokesman, stressed that the actual number of violent sex offenders
released is relatively small and they are nearing the end of their
sentences. This category accounted for 1,849 of the 24,342 released.

The data give positive feedback that even though more parolees are being
released, they are committing fewer crimes. The number of new crimes
dropped 3 percent last year compared to the previous year.